Jeter: 'It's disappointing' that he'll likely miss Yankees' opener

For the first time in 12 years, the Yankees will start a season without him at shortstop.

“Pretty much looks like it’s going to happen,” Jeter said Tuesday of starting on the disabled list due to lingering soreness in his left ankle. “I told you guys all along the goal was to be ready opening day and I didn’t reach it.

“So yeah, it’s disappointing.”

Until this week, the Yankee captain had been adamant about playing at the Stadium against the Red Sox in Monday’s season opener – less than six months after suffering a fractured left ankle in the ALCS opener.

Back-dating Jeter onto the DL could make him eligible to play as early as April 6 at Detroit, though manager Joe Girardi couldn’t commit to that date.

“Maybe we’ll have a better idea by the end of the week,” Girardi said. “Maybe we won’t.”

It was difficult enough for Jeter to come around to the club’s thinking.

Jeter, 38, experienced ankle stiffness March 19, was scratched from the lineup and given a cortisone shot. The captain rested until Saturday, when he had four at-bats as a designated hitter in a minor league exhibition game.

When Jeter was sore again Sunday, general manager Brian Cashman spoke to Jeter about starting the season on the DL. This time the GM didn’t get a fight.

“The big picture is I’ll be ready [to play during the season],” Jeter said. “I just didn’t make the opening day go. I ran out of days.”

Jeter probably will be in Tampa when the Yankees are gathering on the first base line for opening day introductions. He received additional treatment Tuesday and he’s not expected to participate in any baseball activity until Thursday.

He played in only five Grapefruit League games this spring, three at shortstop.

“I don’t know if he pushed himself too hard but he was determined to get out there [on opening day],” Girardi said. “When he’s ready, we’ll welcome him back with open arms. But when he’s ready.”

Until then, Eduardo Nunez will serve as Girardi’s regular shortstop. Nunez is due to become the first Yankee shortstop since Luis Sojo in 2001 to start an opener in place of Jeter, who began that season on the DL with a quad strain.

Jeter has started 15 of the last 16 Yankees’ openers. But he’ll soon be added to a star-laden disabled list of Yankees that includes Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez.

“I think what he realized is, it wasn’t enough time,” Girardi said. “As a player, a lot of times you don’t know until you try, but he pushed.”

The captain isn’t sure if he pressed the issue by playing too soon.

“It was sore,” Jeter said. “As hard as it is sometimes you’ve got to look at the big picture. The goal was to be ready opening day, but the goal also is to be ready for the season.

“I pushed it to try to get ready for opening day but it didn’t work out. I’ve still got to be ready for the majority of the season.”

Jeter said the ankle feels better with each day of rest, and he’s been assured again by his doctors that the soreness was an anticipated part of rehab. He’s dealt with some level of discomfort for weeks, “but nothing worth talking about.

“It’s a setback for opening day,” Jeter said. “But it’s not a setback in terms of the recovery process.”

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who is on the disabled list, walks gingerly on the field after doing an interview before the Yankees' spring training baseball game at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., Tuesday.